Last week, the Irish government released a St. Brigid’s Day video that mocks the Catholic saint while celebrating abortion and gay marriage. The video shows a cloaked figure—a pagan witch—carrying fire from one feminist milestone to the next, boasting images from when Ireland redefined marriage and created a constitutional right to abortion. The Irish government elite confused (or conflated) the Catholic saint with an old Gaelic goddess of the same name. This was not merely a mistake. It is the latest example of the elite’s contempt for Ireland’s Catholic heritage.
Irish Catholics were appalled but not surprised. Throughout the feminist milestones referenced in the video, the legend of St. Brigid was widely used and abused. Pro-abortion activists in Ireland routinely claim that Brigid was the first woman to procure an abortion in Ireland, even citing this as a reason for Catholics to support this “miracle.” These same activists, the minority base of the governmental elite, would scream “get your rosaries off my ovaries” at any well-meaning priest who might dare to explain what “thou shalt not commit murder” means. Former Taoiseach (prime minister) Leo Varadkar, famous for being Ireland’s first openly gay leader, claimed that the holiday celebrated both St. Brigid and her goddess namesake. He suggested that the video was authentic to who Brigid was as a “saint goddess.” For anyone who is confused, let me explain: St. Brigid worshiped God, not some made-up ‘god-demon.’
The governmental elite continues to consign the Catholic Church and its Christian values to the embers of history. In 2015, it asked Irish voters to define marriage in the Constitution as a union “without distinction as to sex.” A simple legislative amendment would have expanded the rights same-sex couples already had in Ireland. But the elite had to erase Catholicism from Ireland completely, and what better way to do that than to galvanize a population in a deliberate PR campaign against the Church? Atlantic Philanthropies, billionaire Chuck Feeney’s pro-LGBT foundation, which largely funded the campaign, admitted in a 2017 report that it deliberately targeted the Catholic hierarchy to drive a wedge between voters and the doctrine of their faith. Similarly, the pro-abortion campaign in 2018 attacked the Church, following the guiding lantern of ‘St. Brigid the Abortionist.’
Modern Irish history is a cautionary tale for Western nations that take the incessant attack on faith and freedoms lightly. The last five years alone give a flavor of the ashes to which Ireland’s holy fire has been reduced.
The elite does not understand the importance of faith
In Ireland it was illegal to worship in public for a year during the COVID pandemic. One worshipper filed a lawsuit but failed. The penalty for a priest saying Mass in an open, airy cathedral for the first seven months of the pandemic was a fine of €2,500—almost a full month’s salary in Ireland—and six months in prison. Under the same restrictions, pubs were allowed to serve ‘take-away pints’ (despite open container laws), and gyms were open to the public. Welcome to the land of well-buffed drunks.
The elite does not understand the importance of identity
Most people know Ireland as the land of céad míle fáilte—“one hundred thousand welcomes.” It’s a nice slogan in context, but the Irish governmental elite does not understand it. Throughout the centuries, impoverished Irish people would welcome strangers into their homes and tend to their well-being. They have always been inspired, of course, by the teaching of Christ in Matthew 25:40 (“as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” RSVCE). St. Brigid was known for her charity but, like Jesus, always encouraged the non-believers towards faith in God. Christian charity is not a handout but an opportunity to propagate the good. The Irish governmental elite extend “one hundred thousand welcomes” in the form of social welfare and free housing to anyone who arrives—with or without a passport. The Irish-born who roam the streets, evicted by ever-increasing rent and entirely stagnant wages, bear the burden.
The elite does not understand the people
Last year, the Irish elite closed ranks to keep a well-known figure in the fight to conserve Ireland’s traditional values off the ballot. Maria Steen, a Catholic campaigner, lawyer, and homeschooling mom of five, was fresh off two referendum campaign victories in 2024. When she declared her intention to run for president, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and former Tanaiste (deputy prime minister) Michael McDowell conspired to prevent Steen from the nomination. This was despite her having a 22% approval rating going into a four-horse race. McDowell admitted to the Irish Independent that he blocked her nomination because he knew she would win. As president, Maria Steen could have been Ireland’s new St. Brigid, reigniting the embers of Ireland’s Christian past and spreading the fire of faith around the world again.
Ireland is experiencing what happens to countries that don’t protect their values. For centuries, Ireland’s diaspora has gone to every continent, digging strong society foundations everywhere it goes. St. Brigid built monasteries that inspired the rest of Europe; Irish men and women have built schools, churches, and communities in every corner of the world. As the proportion of Ireland’s population is increasingly foreign-born, Ireland continues to impact society on a global scale, but Ireland is no longer a place for the Irish. Ireland doesn’t need a new goddess. She needs St. Brigid to rid the country of her pagan, goddess-worshipping past once more.
Ireland Is Playing With Holy Fire
Mosaic of St. Brigid at St. Brigid’s Church, Crosshaven, Co Cork, Ireland
Michael O’Sheil, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Last week, the Irish government released a St. Brigid’s Day video that mocks the Catholic saint while celebrating abortion and gay marriage. The video shows a cloaked figure—a pagan witch—carrying fire from one feminist milestone to the next, boasting images from when Ireland redefined marriage and created a constitutional right to abortion. The Irish government elite confused (or conflated) the Catholic saint with an old Gaelic goddess of the same name. This was not merely a mistake. It is the latest example of the elite’s contempt for Ireland’s Catholic heritage.
Irish Catholics were appalled but not surprised. Throughout the feminist milestones referenced in the video, the legend of St. Brigid was widely used and abused. Pro-abortion activists in Ireland routinely claim that Brigid was the first woman to procure an abortion in Ireland, even citing this as a reason for Catholics to support this “miracle.” These same activists, the minority base of the governmental elite, would scream “get your rosaries off my ovaries” at any well-meaning priest who might dare to explain what “thou shalt not commit murder” means. Former Taoiseach (prime minister) Leo Varadkar, famous for being Ireland’s first openly gay leader, claimed that the holiday celebrated both St. Brigid and her goddess namesake. He suggested that the video was authentic to who Brigid was as a “saint goddess.” For anyone who is confused, let me explain: St. Brigid worshiped God, not some made-up ‘god-demon.’
The governmental elite continues to consign the Catholic Church and its Christian values to the embers of history. In 2015, it asked Irish voters to define marriage in the Constitution as a union “without distinction as to sex.” A simple legislative amendment would have expanded the rights same-sex couples already had in Ireland. But the elite had to erase Catholicism from Ireland completely, and what better way to do that than to galvanize a population in a deliberate PR campaign against the Church? Atlantic Philanthropies, billionaire Chuck Feeney’s pro-LGBT foundation, which largely funded the campaign, admitted in a 2017 report that it deliberately targeted the Catholic hierarchy to drive a wedge between voters and the doctrine of their faith. Similarly, the pro-abortion campaign in 2018 attacked the Church, following the guiding lantern of ‘St. Brigid the Abortionist.’
Modern Irish history is a cautionary tale for Western nations that take the incessant attack on faith and freedoms lightly. The last five years alone give a flavor of the ashes to which Ireland’s holy fire has been reduced.
The elite does not understand the importance of faith
In Ireland it was illegal to worship in public for a year during the COVID pandemic. One worshipper filed a lawsuit but failed. The penalty for a priest saying Mass in an open, airy cathedral for the first seven months of the pandemic was a fine of €2,500—almost a full month’s salary in Ireland—and six months in prison. Under the same restrictions, pubs were allowed to serve ‘take-away pints’ (despite open container laws), and gyms were open to the public. Welcome to the land of well-buffed drunks.
The elite does not understand the importance of identity
Most people know Ireland as the land of céad míle fáilte—“one hundred thousand welcomes.” It’s a nice slogan in context, but the Irish governmental elite does not understand it. Throughout the centuries, impoverished Irish people would welcome strangers into their homes and tend to their well-being. They have always been inspired, of course, by the teaching of Christ in Matthew 25:40 (“as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” RSVCE). St. Brigid was known for her charity but, like Jesus, always encouraged the non-believers towards faith in God. Christian charity is not a handout but an opportunity to propagate the good. The Irish governmental elite extend “one hundred thousand welcomes” in the form of social welfare and free housing to anyone who arrives—with or without a passport. The Irish-born who roam the streets, evicted by ever-increasing rent and entirely stagnant wages, bear the burden.
The elite does not understand the people
Last year, the Irish elite closed ranks to keep a well-known figure in the fight to conserve Ireland’s traditional values off the ballot. Maria Steen, a Catholic campaigner, lawyer, and homeschooling mom of five, was fresh off two referendum campaign victories in 2024. When she declared her intention to run for president, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and former Tanaiste (deputy prime minister) Michael McDowell conspired to prevent Steen from the nomination. This was despite her having a 22% approval rating going into a four-horse race. McDowell admitted to the Irish Independent that he blocked her nomination because he knew she would win. As president, Maria Steen could have been Ireland’s new St. Brigid, reigniting the embers of Ireland’s Christian past and spreading the fire of faith around the world again.
Ireland is experiencing what happens to countries that don’t protect their values. For centuries, Ireland’s diaspora has gone to every continent, digging strong society foundations everywhere it goes. St. Brigid built monasteries that inspired the rest of Europe; Irish men and women have built schools, churches, and communities in every corner of the world. As the proportion of Ireland’s population is increasingly foreign-born, Ireland continues to impact society on a global scale, but Ireland is no longer a place for the Irish. Ireland doesn’t need a new goddess. She needs St. Brigid to rid the country of her pagan, goddess-worshipping past once more.
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